Congress changed an important poll rule ahead of the crucial
presidential elections scheduled on October 17. The change was sought for by
senior leaders of the party, including Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari and
others. Five senior Congress leaders had written to Madhusudan Mistry, the
chief of Congress central electoral authority. The letter eventually leaked
causing great embarrassment to the party which seems on its way to have a
non-Gandhi as president after a long time.

However, after the report became public, the Congress decided
to change an important poll rule. Candidates taking part in the elections will
now be able to see the list of 9,000 delegates that forms the electoral college.
The change was made in a bid to ensure transparency. The candidates will be able
to access the list from September 20 to September 24, till they file their
nomination.

After the rule was changed, Shashi Tharoor, who has been so
engaged with the Congress poll process that many Indian media outlets claim he
might be in the running for the president post, said the letter was not a means
of seeking confrontation but clarification. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “I
am pleased that this clarification has come in the form of his constructive
reply to our letter. In view of these assurances, I am satisfied. Many will be
glad to move on with an election process that in my view will only strengthen
the party.”

Earlier, Tharoor had said that the leaking of the letter sent
to Mistry was a malicious conspiracy. The need for a rule change was first laid
out by Manish Tiwari. Later, five people, including Tharoor, Tiwari, Karti Chidambaram,
Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque wrote the letter.

The need for this clarification had emerged at the same time
when senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had decided to quit the party. While
Ghulam Nabi’s resignation had been coming for a while, the fact that a leader
of his might was leaving the Congress at a critical time could make other
leaders wonder about their prospects in the Rahul Gandhi-led party. Now, the
Gandhis seem to be out of the presidential race and the Congress will be
looking to elect a non-Gandhi to the post which will be able to give the Grand
Old Party some much-needed youthful energy.